Host cell gene expression profile in vaccinia virus infected mouse RAW cells at 2, 16 hours post infection

The poxviruses are a family of linear double-stranded DNA viruses about 130 to 230 kbp, that belong to the family Poxviridae. The poxviruses have an animal origin and have evolved to infect a wide host range. Variola virus (VARV), the causative agent of smallpox, is a poxvirus that infect only humans, but other poxviruses such monkey pox virus and cowpox virus have also across over from animals to infect humans. Therefor understanding the biology of poxviruses can help to devise antiviral strategies. In this study we used a system-based approach to examine the host responses to three different orthopoxviruses, CPXV, VACV and ECTV in the murine macrophage RAW 264.7 cell line. The vaccinia virus infected mouse RAW cells were harvested at 2 and 16 hpi and RNA extraction was performed using standard protocol as described by Affymetrix. The aim of this experiment is to analyze host cell response to vaccinia virus infection.

痘病毒（poxviruses）是一类长度介于130~230千碱基对（kbp）的线性双链DNA病毒，隶属于痘病毒科（Poxviridae）。该类病毒源自动物，并已演化出宽泛的宿主感染谱。天花病毒（Variola virus, VARV）是引发天花的病原体，属于仅感染人类的痘病毒；而猴痘病毒、牛痘病毒等其他痘病毒亦可跨物种传播并感染人类。因此，解析痘病毒的生物学特性有助于研发抗病毒防控策略。本研究采用系统生物学方法，探究小鼠巨噬细胞RAW 264.7细胞系对CPXV、VACV及ECTV三种正痘病毒（orthopoxviruses）的宿主应答反应。实验中，痘苗病毒（VACV）感染的小鼠RAW细胞分别于感染后2小时和16小时（hours post infection, hpi）收获，并按照Affymetrix官方描述的标准实验流程完成RNA提取。本实验的核心目的为分析宿主细胞对痘苗病毒感染的应答机制。